The design of the new HTC ONE M8 is elegant and sleek and it weighs only 160 grams thanks to its unibody aluminum design. It is a little bit taller than the average 5-inch Android smartphone to make space for one of its outstanding features: remarkable BoomSound speakers above and below the display. Exceptionally rich bass and high-end clarity is offered by the two speakers when listening to music without distorting at full volume, which according to HTC is 25% louder then the previous model.

You can try to convince to the sound quality when you turn the phone on its side to watch a movie and the stereo speakers point straight at you.

At first sight, the lowly 4-megapixel rear camera maybe seems like a disadvantage, but don’t dismiss it too quickly: there’s more to image quality than resolution. The smartphone’s camera relies on a larger sensor than other smartphones. As a consequence you get cleaner pictures with less “noise” in the shadows that is evident in poor lightning conditions. It is also possible to capture 1080p video at 60 frames per second. There is also a built-in 360 degree panorama mode and a ‘dual shot mode’ that can display the view from the front and rear cameras picture in picture.

On the other hand the 5-megapixel front camera takes really sharp selfies allowed by the sensible 3-second countdown feature.